SB 104-09: COMET Act of 2021 (Passed)

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This Act will make sure that every student in this country has access to educational devices that will help them learn and this act will make sure that every school in this country has access to high-speed internet.

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The amendment is friendly.

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Also, and I realize this really should have been done during initial questioning, may I ask how the sponsor derived that $75 billion figure?

Ishan?

Presuming that every student gets a computer and since there are 56.4 million students, and if everyone gets a $1250 computer, the total cost would be 70.5 billion. I chose 75 billion because some computers could be more expensive.

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Friendly.

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I'd like to apologize for not responding to the question about overlap and to answer the question by Senator Koopa, lets say there is a pandemic like this one, should poorer student be disadvantaged by not having a laptop or tablet and not being able to access the learning that a student can get by having a computer. For instance, my textbooks can be accessed online which means that you can learn almost anywhere. Also, students can learn from websites like Khan Academy if you give every student a laptop.

Schools can have after school tutoring and it is more easier for someone who poorer to do it online than to do it at school because their parents would have to travel to school to pick them up if they had to stay at school. Also from personal experience, I have a class on robotics and coding in school, and laptops are nearly essential, especially in coding.

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The amendment is adopted.

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A vote has been opened.